I seem to have really taken a blog hiatus. We're pretty settled in the house and love love love it. The only thing I keep putting off is hanging pictures. Ah well.
Anyways, I need some motivation, direction, advice...something. My running rut is worse than ever, and I'm at a total crossroads with my whole workout game plan in general.
My running rut started after AthHalf. That was last October. I can't even remember what started it - my knee, maybe? I got my new Saucony shoes and traded in my left knee pain for right hip pain, which I'd previously mentioned. That, along with my insomnia (which has since subsided for the most part, at least for the time being) caused me several skipped runs. Somewhere in there my enjoyment of the whole thing started to fade.
It's a funny thing, though. When I'm running, I just want it to be over so I can get back home. When I'm not running, I crave hitting the pavement.
I did the Publix half in March somewhat undertrained. I am usually able to run the entire distance, but I walked through the water stations and run-walked the entire last 3 miles. There's nothing wrong with run-walking (I'm actually finding now that allowing myself short walk breaks allows me to recoup some energy and doesn't affect my overall average pace in the end), but the amount of walking I have to do in comparison to running is my personal barometer to gauge how I am doing. If I've run a couple half marathons without feeling the need to walk, then I wasn't at my personal best for the Publix.
Anyhow, I got through that, and my weekly mileage suffered during the move. It wasn't that I didn't have time. It's just that I was still dealing with hip pain and didn't enjoy the route near my parents' house.
The slippage in mileage, in the end, hasn't turned out to be a totally bad thing. It's given my hip the rest it's probably needed, and at the same time I got new shoes. My first pair of real running shoes was my hot pink Mizuno Wave Precision 13's. I decided to go back to those considering I was least injured during my stint in those, so I scoured the inter webs and found the very last pair of size 10's anywhere (eBay) in purple. Between the decreased mileage and the new shoes, my hip's doing much better and is a non-issue right now (knock on wood). I think I've just got some bursitis in there.
The biggest thing, though, is that running has just lost its effectiveness. Last summer I was in better shape weight wise than I have been since high school. I was loving it. Over the course of the last year, I've slowly been putting the weight back on. I am afraid of the scale right now. I haven't gotten on it in months and months, and even when I'm running my little heart out, my midsection is still being my typical midsection and not the one from last summer.
I have taken up a body sculpting group class at the gym twice a week because everyone says that it helps boost your metabolism and helps you strength train for running. Anything that can help me lose weight and run faster, right?! The problem is that I'm my brother's sister, and, coming from the same genes, I am predisposed to bulk up rather than tone. That's all I want to do - tone. Lose fat, replace it with muscle. Instead, my shoulders are getting big, my butt and thighs aren't fitting into my pants any better, and if my abs are getting buffer, they're just doing so underneath what's already there.
In the end, I'm getting 4 workouts per week (2 running, 2 strength-training) instead of the 3 runs (4 on a super-good week) that I used to do, but I feel like I'm really losing out when I'm dropping one of my intense cardio workouts. I know that the science behind it says I should also be getting results from the strength training, maybe even more so, but that's just not how I'm feeling.
I'm training for the Divas half on Septemer 6, and it's going miserably. I think it's partially that my cardiovascular endurance isn't at its best, but I also think it's a great deal because of the summer humidity (better to have something external to blame it on). I have to leave my house before 6am to beat the heat, and even on a weekend long run, the humidity is killing me by 6:30. I did 7 miles last Saturday (which I have built back up to), but by mile 5 I remember hovering over the water fountain willing myself to take a drink but having to fight through the exhaustion just to do it. I got through it and picked myself back up and finished out the last couple miles (with some walk breaks, of course), but it was rough.
I just don't know how I am going to do it. I don't know how I am going to add those last 6 miles to be prepared for this race in September. I don't know how to break out of the rut and get back to actually enjoying running - I really miss enjoying it. I don't know how to get myself back into shape without getting into some kind of diet/exercise routine that's unsustainable. I don't know where to find that balance of running and cross training that will help me accomplish my two main goals of continuing to run toward half marathons and keeping my body fit in both strength and appearance.
Help?!
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